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DANIEL O'CONNELL 



AMERICAN SLAVERY 



KEPLY TO O^COjNNKLL 



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The famous letler ol' Daniel O'Coniicll on American Sknery, addi-essed in 1843 U> 
ii Committee of tlie Cincinnati Irish Repeal Association, a\ lio had rehuked him for 
his Anti-SIaveiy opinions, has recently been reproduced by the Cincinnati Cat/ioUr 
Telegmpli.. " The original document, " ^&y%H\g Telegraph, " has been concealed for 
twenty years 1)y a well known Democrat, to whom we are indebted for it. We invite 
our Irish Catholic brethren to read it attentively ; and if any one Avishes to see the 
manuscript, which is beautifully written, and the signature of O'Connel!, tluy can be 
accommodated at tlie ofhce of the Telegraph.'' 

ThV^ bold, manly, and indignant protest of the groat Irisli Orator against the cruel 
injustice of Am«rican Slavery, and his eloquent reassertioa of the in'inciples of the 
Declaration of Independence, are opportunely reproduced iu the present crisis of -our 
aflliirs. The glowing words of the Liberator will be read with renewed interest by 
all lovers of huiiiah freedom, and not without increased admiration for that magnani- 
mous soul which, in its love of Liberty, overleaped all barriers of nationalit)', and 
embraced all tril)es and races of mankind. 

It is also fitting that the admirable letter to the ISational Irish llepeal Association, 
written by the present distinguished Secretary of the Treasury-, shoidd be republished 
as a companion-piece to the great letter of O'Connell. Strange as it may now seem, 
the Cincinnati Irisli llepeal Association refused to O'Connell's letter tlie common 
courtesy of reception. More consistent, "friends of Liberty, Ireland, and Repeal" 
in Cincinnati, feeling the injustice of that act, sought to vindicate, so far as possible, 
before the Irish Liberators, American love of Liberty and exact justice to all men, 
irrespective of race or color, by returning an appropriate n i)ly to O'Connell's letter. 
The duty of preparing that, re[)ly was entrusted to Governor Chase. Mow well he 
discharged that duty, which to him was a "labor of love," is attested by the fact 
that his words arc as fresh and opportune to-day as Ihey were twenty years ago. 
Faithful to the logical consequences of his principles, he affirmed then what is eciually 
true to-day : 

"■Differences ofreligiom creed or of national origin are not suffered to dieide the rauhK 
" of Anti-Slavery tnen. We pi'efer to contend with each otlier, Protestants and Caifiolics, 
" native-born with foreign-horn, in lionest zeal for the Liberty op all and the Riohts 



LETTER OF DANIEL O'CONNELL 

LETTER OE DANIEL O'COMELL 

ON 

AMEEICAN SLAVEEY. 



The Committeo to whom the address from tlie Ciucinuati Irish Kepeal Association, ou tlie subject of Ts'egro 
Slavery in the United States of America, was referred, have agreed to the following report: 

To D. T. DisNKV, Esq., Corresponding Secretary, W. H. Hunter, Esq., Vice President, and the Executive 
Committee of the Cincinnati Irish Repeal Association. 

Corn Exchange Rooms, Dublin, Oct. 11, 184:3. 

Gentlemen : 

We have read, with the deepest affliction, uot imniixed with some surprise and 
much indignation, your detailed and anxious vindication of the most liideous crime 
that has ever stained humanity — the slavery of men of color in the United States of 
America. We are lost in utter amazement at tlie perversion of mind and depravity of 
heart which your address evinces. How can the generovis, the charitable, the humane, 
the noble emotions of the Irish heart, have become extinct among j^ou V How can 
your nature be so totally changed as that you should become the apologists and advo- 
cates of that execral^le system Avhich makes man the property of his felloAv-man — 
destroying the foundation of all moral and social virtues — condemns to ignorance, 
immorality, and irreligion, millions of our fellow-creatures — renders the slave hoi)e- 
less of relief, and perpetuates oppression by law ; and, in th(> name of what yoX\ call a 
Constitution ! 

It was not in Ireland you learned this cruelty. Your mothers Avere gentle, kind, 
and humane. Their bosoms overtloAved Avith the lioney of human charity. Your 
sisters are, ])robably, many of them.still among us, and ])articipate in all that is good 
and benevolent in sentiment and action. IIoav, then, can you be so depraved V Hoav 
can your soids liaA'e become stained Avitli a darkness blacker than the negro's skin V 
You say you have no pecimiary interest in negro iSlaverj'. Would that j'ou had ! for 
it might be some ])aHiatio}\ of your crime ! but, alas ! you have inflicted ujjon us the 
horror of beholding you the volunteer advocates of despotism, in its most frightful 
state ; of Slavery, in its most loathsome and unrelenting form. 

We Avere, unliappilj', prepared to expect some fearfid exhibition of this description. 
There has been a testimony borne against the Irish, by birth or descent, in America, 
by a person fully informed as to the facts, and inctipablc of the slightest misrepresen- 
tation ; a noble of nature more than of titled birth; a man gifted Avith the highest 
order of talent and the most generous emotions of the heart — the great, the good Lord 
Morpeth — he who, in the llouso of Commons, boldly asserted the sui)erior social 
morality of the jioorer classes of the Irisli over any other i>eople — he, the best friend 
of any of the Saxoij race that Ireland and the Irish ever kncAV — he, amid the congre- 
gated thousands, at Exeter Hall, in London, mournfully, but firmly, denouncedthe 
Irisli in America as being ajn<mg the Avorst enemies of the negro shiA'cs and other men 
of color. 

It is, therefore, our solemn and sacred duty to warn you, in words already used, 
and much misunderstood liy you — "to come out of her "—not therein' meaning to 
ask you to come out of America, but out of the councils of the inicpiitous, and out of 
the congregalion of the Avicked, Avho consider man a chattel and a property, and lib- 
erty an inconvenience. Yes. We tell you to come out of such assendilages ; but Ave 
did not and do not invite you to return to Ireland. The volunteer defenders of 
Slavery, surrounded by one lliousand crimes, avouIiI lind neither sympathy nor sup- 
port among native, uncontaminated Irishmen. 

Yoiu" advocacy of Slavery is founded upon a gross erroi'. You take for granted 
that man can be the jjroiK'rty of his felloAV-nian. You speak in terms of indignation 
of those who would deprive white men of their " jtroperty," and therel)y render them- 
selves eiii>al)le of supporting llieir families in atlluenee. You forget the other side of 
the i)icture. You have neither sorrow nor syni!)athy for the sutierings of those Avho 
are initiuilously comix'llcd to labor for the aliluence of others ; those Avho Avork Avith- 
out Avages — Avho toil without recomi)ense — Avho sjiend their lives in procuring for 
others the splendor and Avealth in Avhich they do uot jiarticipate. 

You totally f()rg<'t tiie sulferings of the Avretched black men, avIio are deprived of 
their all without any compensation or redress. If j-ou, j'oursehes, all of you — or '^K 



ON AMEKICAK SLAVERY. 3 

any oue of you wero, without crime or offence committed by you, lianded over into 
peipetual slavery ; if you were compelled to work from sunrise to sunset without 
wages, supplied only with such coarse food and raiment as would keep you in work- 
ing order ; if, when your "owner" fell into debt, you were sold to pay his debts, not 
your own ; if it were made a crime to teach you to read and to write ; if you were 
liable to be separated, in the distribution of assets, from your wives and your children; 
if you (above all) were to fall into the hands of a brutal master — and you conde- 
scended to admit that there are some brutal masters in America— if, among all these 
circumstances, some friendly spirits of a more generous order were desirous to give 
liberty to you and your families — with what ineffiible disgust would not you laugh to 
scorn those who should traduce the generous spirits who would relieve you. And 
you now, pseudo-Irishmen— shame upon you !— have traduced and vilified the Aboli- 
tionists of North America ! 

. But, you came forward with a justification, forsooth ! You say that the Constitu- 
tion of America prohibits the abolition of Slavery. Paltry and m'iserable subterfuge ! 
The Constitution in America is founded upon the Declaration of Independence. That 
Declaration published to the world its glorious principles ; that Charter of your Free- 
dom contained these emphatic words : 

" We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal ; that they 
are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ;" and the conclusion of that address is in these 
words : 

"For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of 
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our 
sacred honor. ' ' 

There is American honor for you ! There is a profane allusion to the adorable 
Creator. 

Recollect that the Declaration does not limit the equality of man, or the rights to 
life and liberty to the white, to the brown, or to the copper-colored races. It includes 
all races. It excludes none. 

We do not deign to argue with you on the terms of the American Constitution, and 
yet we cannot help asserting that, in that Constitution, the word "Slavery," or 
"Slave," is not to be found. There are, indeed, the words "persons bound to 
labor," but it is not said how bound. And a constitutional laAvyer or judge, con- 
struing the American Constitution with a reference to the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, which is its basis, woidd not hesitate to decide that "bound to labor" ought, 
in a court of justice, to mean, "bound by contract to labor ;" and should not be held 
to imply "forced or compelled to labor," in the absence of all contract, and for the 
exclusive benefit of others. 

However, we repeat that we do not deign to argue this point with you, as we pro- 
claim to the world our conviction that no constitutional law can create or sanction 
Slavery. Slavery is repugnant to the first principles of society ; but it is enough for 
us to say, as regards Americans, that it is utterly repugnant to that declaration of the 
equality of all men, and to the inalienable right of all men to life and liberty. To 
this Declaration the free citizens of the United States have, in the persons of their 
ancestors, solemnly pledged their "sacred honor." 

We shall at once show you how that "sacred honor "is basely violated, and also 
demonstrate how equally devoid of candor your address is, inasmuch as you rely on 
the Constitution of the United States as precluding the abolition of Slavery, while 
you totally omit all mention of one District, which^the constitutional law alleged by 
you does not reach. We mean the District of Columbia. 

In the District of Columbia there is no constitutional law to prevent the Congress 
from totally abolishing Slavery within that District. Your Cajiitol is tliere. Tlie 
Temple of American Freedom is there. The Hall of your Rei)ub]ican Kepresenta- 
tives— the Hall of your Republican Senators— the National Palace of your Rei)ublican 
President is there— and Slavery is there, too, in its most revolting form ! The slave- 
trade is there— the most disgusting traffic in human beings is there ; human desh is 
bought and sold like swine in the pig market— aye, in your Capital— your Wanhing- 
ton ! Yes. Let Americans be as proud as they please, this black spot is on their 
escutcheon. Even under the shade of the Temple of their Constitution, the man of 
color crawls a slave, and the tawny American stalks a tyrant. 

The cruelty of the slave principle rests not there— it goes much further. The poor 
and paltry privilege even of prayer is denied them ; and you, even yo>i, ]iseudo-Irish- 
men ! are the advocates and vindicators of such a system. What ! would not you, at 
?m.s<,_ insist that their groans should be heard ! 

It is carried still further. Even the free-born white Americans arc not allowed to 
petition upon any subject including the question of Slavery ; or, at least, no such 
petition can be read aloud or printed. And, although the Congress is entitled to 
abolish Slavery in Columbia, the door for petition, praying that abolition, is closed 
without the power of being opened. 



4 LETTER OF DAKIEL O'.CONNELI- 

We really think that men who came from generous and -w arm -hearted Ireland 
should shrink into nonentity rather tlian become the advocates and defenders of the 
system of Slavery. But Ave trust that the voice of indignant Ireland will scatter them, 
and prevent them from repeating such a crime. 

In another point of view, your address is, if possible, more culpable. You state 
that before the Abolitionists jn-oclaimed their wish to have Slavery abolished, several 
slaveholding States were jn-eparing for the gradual emancipation of their negroes, and 
that humane individuals in other States were about to adopt similar measures. 

We utterly deny your assertion, and Ave delT you to show any single instance of 
preparatory steps taken by any State for the emancipation of negioes before the Abo- 
lition demand was raised. You violate truth in that assertion. There Avere no such 
preparations. It is a pure fiction, invented by slaveholders out of their unjust ani- 
mosity to the Aboliti(mists. It is said that the fear of Abolition has rendered the 
slaveholders more strict, iiarsli, and cruel toAvard their Avretched slaves, and that they 
Avould be more gentle and humane if they Avere not afraid of the Abolitionists. We 
repeat that this is not true, and is merely an attem])t to ciist blame cm those who Avoidd 
coalesce to put an end to Negro Slavery. 

It is in the same spirit that the criminal calumniates his prosecutor, and the felon, 
reviles his accuser. It is, therefore, utterly untrue that the slaveholders have made 
the chains of the negro more heavy through anj^ fear of abolition. 

Yet if you tell the truth ; if the fact be that the negro is made to suffer for the zeal 
of the Abolitionists ; if lie is treated Avith increased cruelty by reason of the taimt of 
the friends of abolition, then, indeed, the slaveliolders must be a truly Satanic race. 
Their conduct, according to you, is diabolical. The Abolitionists commit an offence, 
and the unhappy negroes are punished. The Abolitionists violate the law of pro]>- 
erty, and tlie ijcnaltj^ of their crime is imposed upon the negro ! Can anything be 
more repugnant to every idea of justice V Yet this is your statement. 

AVe, on the other hand, utterly deny the truth of your allegations; and Avhere we 
find you calumniate the slaveholder, avc become their advocates against your calumny. 
You calumniate everybody — slaves. Abolitionists, and slaveholders — framers of Con- 
stitutions — makers of laAvs — everybody! The slaveholders are not favorites of om"s, 
but Ave Avill do men justice, and Avill not permit you to impute ;ui impossible crime to 
them. 

You tell us, Avith an air of triumph, that public opinion in your country is the 
great laAV giver. If it be so, hoAV much docs it enhance the guilt of your conduct, 
that you seek to turn pul)lic opinion against the slave and in favor of the slaveholder, 
that you laud the master as generous and humane, and disparage, as much as you can, 
the unhappy slaA'e; instead of influencing, as Irishmen ought to do, the public mind 
in favor of "the oppressed. You carry your exaggerations to a ludicrous pitch, deno- 
ting your utter ignorance of the hislt)ry of the human race. 

You say that "the ne.i;ro is really iiifcrioj- as a ractc; that Slavery has stamped it.> 
debasing intluence upon I he Africans; that bet\\ een him and the Avhite almost a cen- 
tury Avould be required to elevate the character of the one, and to destroy the antipa- 
thies of the other." You add — we use your oAvn Avords — " The A'cry odor of the ne- 
gro is almost insufferable to the w liite; and however much humanity may lament it, 
Ave make no rash declai'ation Avhen Ave say tlie two races cannot exist together on 
equal terms under our ' (lovernment and our Institutions.' " 

We quote this paragra])h at full length, because it is j-eplele with your mischievous 
errors and guilty mode of thinking. 

In the lirst ]ilace, as to the odor of the negroes, we are quite aware that tliey have 
not as yet come to use much of the otto of roses or eau de cologne. But Ave implore of 
your fastidiousness to rccolleel that uuiltitudes of ihe children of wliile men luive ne- 
gro Avomen for their mothers; and that oiu- British travellers comjilain in loud and 
bitter terms of the overpowering stench of stale tobacco sinttle as the prevailing 
"odor" among the native free Americans. It would i)erhaps be better to check this 
nasal sensiliilily on both sides, on the part of the Avhite as Avell as of blacks. But it 
is, indeed, deplorable Hint you shoidd use a ludicrous assertion of that descrijUion as 
one of the indueenu'uts lo i*)revent the al)olilion of Slavery. The negroes Avould cer- 
tainly smell at least as sweet when free, as Ihey now do, being slaves. 

Your important allegation is, that the negroes are naturally an inferior race. That 
is a totally gratuitousassntion upon your part. In America you can liave no opportu- 
nity of seeing Ihe negro educated. On the Contrary, in most of your States it is a 
crime — sacred i leaven!— a crime lo educate even u free negro! How, then, can you 
judge of the negro race, when you see tlu-m despised and contemned by educated 
classes — reviled and looked down upon as inferiorV The negro race lias, naturally, 
some of the finest ciualities. They are naturally gentle, generou.s humane, and very 
grateful for kindness. They are as brave and iis fearless as any (Mlier of the lace of 
Jmman being-^; but the blessings of education are kept from llicm, ami llu-y are judged 
of, not as they Avould be witli proper cultivation, hut as they are rendered by cruel 
«nd debasing ojipression. It i>; as oM as the days of Homer, Avho trulj' assci'ts tliat 



ON AJIERICAN SLAVEKY. 5 

the day which sees a man a skive takes away half his wortii. Slavery atlually bruta- 
lizes hiunan beings. 

It is about sixty jxars ago when one of the Shieks, not far south of Fez, in Mo- 
rocco, who was in the habit of accumulating white slaves, upon being strongly re- 
monstrated with by a European Power, gave for his reply that, by his own experi- 
ence, he found it quite manifest that white men were of an inferior 'race, intended by 
nature for slaves; and he produced his own brutalized wliite slaves to illustrate the 
truth of his assertion. And a case of an American, with a historic name— John 
Adams— is quite familiar. Some twenty-five years ago— not more— John Adams was 
the sole Survivor of an American crew wrecked on the African coast. He was taken 
into the interior as the slave of an Arab chief, lie was only for three years a slave, 
and the English and American Consuls having been informed of a white man's sla- 
. very, claimed him and obtained his liberation. In the short space of three years he 
had become completely brutalized; he had completely forgotten the English language, 
without having acquired the native tongue. He spoke a kind of gabble, as miintel- 
lectual as the dialects of most of your negro slaves; and many months elapsed before 
he recovered his former habits and ideas. 

It is also a curious fact, as connected with America, that the children of the Anglo- 
Saxon race, and of other Europeans born in America, were for many years consi- 
dered as a degraded and inferior class. Indeed it was admitted, as if it was an axiom, 
that the native-born American was in nothing equal to his European progenitor; and 
so far from the fact being disputed, many philosophic dissertations were published 
endeavoring to account for the alleged debasement. The only doubt was about the 
causeof it. "Xobody doubted," to use your own words, "that the native-born 
Americans were really an inferior race.'" Nobody dares to say so now, and nodody 
thinks it. Let it then be recollected that you have never seen the negro educated. 
An English traveller through Brazil, some few years ago, mentions having known a 
negro who was a priest, and who was a learned, pious, and exemplary man in his 
sacerdotal functions. "We have been lately informed of two negroes being educated at 
the Propaganda and ordained priests— both having distinguished themselves in their 
scientific nnd theological course. The French papers say that one of them celebrated 
mass, and delivered a short but able sermon before Louis Philippe. It is believed 
they have gone out with the Kight Rev. Dr. Baron on the African Mission. 

TVe repeat, therefore, that to judge properly of the negro, you should see him edu- 
cated and treated with the respect due to a fellow-creature- uninsulted by the filthy 
aristocracy of the skin, and untarnished to the eve of the white by any associations 
connected with the state of Slavery. 

We next refer to your declaration (hat the two races, viz. : the black and white, 
cannot exist on equal terms under your Government and your Institutions. This is 
an extraordinary assertion to be made at the present day. You allude, indeed, to 
Antigua and Bermudas. But avc will take you to where the experiment has been 
successfully made upon a large scale — namely, to Jamaica. 

There the two races arc on a jicrfect ctiuality in poinlf of law. The law does not 
recognize the slightest distinction between the races. You have borrowed the far 
greater part of your address from tlu; cant phraseology which the AVc!st Indian slave- 
owners, and especially those (jf Jamaica, made use of before cmanci|)ation. They used 
to assert, as you do now, tliat abolition meant destruction ; that to give freedom to the 
negro would l)e to pronounce the assassination of the whites; that the negro, as soon 
as free, Avould massacre their former oAvners, and destroy their wives and families. 
In short, your prophesies of the destructive efi'ects of emancipation are but faint and 
foolish echoes of the prophetic apprehensions of the British slaveowners. They 
might, perhajjs, have beleiVcd their own assertions, because the emancijiation of the 
negroes was then an untried experiment. But vou— you are deprived of any excuse 
for the reassertion of a disproved calumny. 

_ The emancipation has taken place— the compcnsati(m given by England was not 
given to the negroes, who were the only persons that desired con'ipensation. It was 
given to the so-called "owners." It was an additional wrong— an additional cause 
of irritation to the negroes; but, gnicious Heaven! how nobly did that good and kind- 
ly race, the negros — falsify the calumnious ai)pr(']iensious of "their lask-niaslers! Was 
there one single murder conscciueut on the emancipatiouV AV'as there one riot- 
one tumult— even one assaultV Was there one single wliite ))erson injured, either in 
person or projierty? Was tliere any i)roi)crty spoiled or laid waste? The proportion 
of negroes in Jamaica to white men is as oOO to GO, or 80 per cent. Yet the most per- 
fect tranquility has followed tlie emancipation. The criminal courts are almost un- 
employed; nine-tenths of the jails are em])ty and open; universal tranquility reigns. 
Although the landed jiroprictors have made use of the harshest landlord power to" ex- 
act the hardest terms by way of rent from the negro, and have also endeavored to ex- 
tort from him Die largest ]iossibIe quantity of labor for the smallest Avages, yet the 
kindly negro race have not retaliated by one single act ol* violence or vengeance; the 
two races exist together, upon equal terms, under the British Government, and under 
British Institutions. 



6 LETTER OF DANIEL O'COKNELL 

Or shall you say that the British Government and British Institutions are prefera- 
ble to yours? The vain and vaporing spirit of mistaken Eepublicanism will not per- 
mit you to avow the British superiority. You are bound, however reluctantly, to 
admit that superiority, or else to admit the falsity of yom- own assertions. Nothing 
can, in truth, be more ludicrous than your declaration in favor of Slavery. It, 
however, sometimes rises to the very border of blasphemy. Your words are, "God 
forbid that we should advocate 'human bondage in any shape.' " 

Oh! shame upon you! How can you take the name of the All Good Creator thus 
in vain? What are you doing? Is not the entire of your address an advocacy of hu- 
man bondage? 

Another piece of silliness. You allege that it is the Abolitionists who make the 
slave restless with his condition, and that they scatter the seeds of discontent. How 
can you treat us with such contempt as to use assertions of that kind in your address? 
How can you think that we could be so devoid of intelligence as to believe the negro 
would not know the miseries of Slavery, which he feels every horn- of the four-and- 
twenty, unless he were told by some Abolitionist that Slavery was a miserable con- 
dition? 

Tliere is nothing that makes us think so badly of you as your strain of ribaldry in 
attacking the Abolitionists. 

The desire to procure abolition, is, in itself, a virtue and deserves om- love for its 
charitable disposition, as it does respect and veneration for its corn-age under favora- 
ble circumstances. Instead of the ribaldry of your attack upon the Abolitionists, you 
ought to respect and countenance them, 'if they err by excessive zeal, they err in a 
righieous and holy cause. You Avould do well to check their errors and mitigate 
their zeal within the bounds of strict propriety. But if you had the genuine feelings 
of Irishmen, you never would confound their errors with their virtue. In truth, we 
much fear, or rather we should candidly say, we readily believe that you attribute to 
them imaginary errors for no other reason than that they really possess one brilliant 
virtue — namely, the love of human freedom in intense perfection. 

Again, we have to remark that you exaggerate exceedingly when you state that there 
are fifteen millions of the white population in America whose security and happiness 
are connected with the maintenance of the system of Negro Slavery. 

On the contrary, the system of Slavery inflicts nothing but mischief upon the far 
greater part of the inhabitants of America. The only places in which individual inter- 
est is connected with Slavery are the siaveholding States. Now, in those States, 
almost without an exception, (if, indeed, there be any exception,) the people of color 
greatly exceed the whites; and thus, even if an injury were to be intlicted on the 
whites by depriving them of their slaves, the advantages would be most abmidantly 
coimterbalanced and compensated for by the infinitely greater number of persons who 
would thus be restored to the greatest of human blessings— personal liberty. Thus 
the old Benthamite maxim of ''doing the greatest possible good to the greatest pos- 
sible number" would be am^ily carried out into effect by the emancipation of the ne- 
groes. 

You charge the Abolitionists, as with a crime, that they encourage a negro, flying 
from Kentucky, to steal a horse from an inhabitant of Oliio, in order to aid him, if 
necessary, in liiuking his escape. AVe iuv nol, upon full reflection, sufficiently versed 
in casuistry to decide whether, under such circumstances, the taking of the horse 
would l)e an excusable act or not. But, even conceeding that it would be sinful, we 
are of this ([uite certain, that there is not one of you that addresses us who, if he were 
mider similar cireumslances, that is, having no other means of escaping ))erpetual 
Slavery, would not make free with your neighbor's horse to efll-ctuate your just and 
reascmable purpose. And we are also sm-e of this, that there is not one of you who, 
if lie were comijclled to spend the rest of his life as a jierscmal slave, worked, and 
])eaten, and sold, and Iransferred from hand to hand, and separated, at his master's 
caprice, from wife and family— consigned to ignorance— working without wages, 
lolling witiiout reward— witliout any other stimulant to that toil and labor than the 
driver's carl-wliip- we do say that there is not one of you who would not think that 
the name of i/ickpocket, thief; or febm, would not be too couricous a niiine for the be- 
ing who kej)t you in such thraldom. 

We cannot avoid rei)eating our aslcmishment that you. Irishmen, should be so de- 
void of every trace of luunaiuty as to become the voUmtary and pecuniarily disinter- 
ested advocates ofhinnan Slavery; and esiiecially, that you should be so in America. 
JJut what excites our nncon(|uera'l)le loathing, is (o find that in your address you speak 
of man lieing the i)roi)erly of man— of one human being the property of another, with 
as little doulil, hesitation^ or repugnance, as if you were speaking of the beasts of the 
field. It Is this that tills us witli utter astonlshnvent. It is this that makes us dis- 
claim you as count rvmen. We cannot bring ourselves to believe that you breathed 
your mital air In Ireland— Ireland, the first of all the nations tm the earth that abol- 
Islied the dealing in slaves. The slave-trade of that day was, curious enough, a slave- 
trade in British youths— Ireland, tluit never was stained Avith negro slave-trading— 



ON AMERICAN SLATERV. 7 

Ireland, that never committed an offence against the men of coh)r — Ireland, that never 
fitted out a single vessel for the traffic in blood on the African coast. 

It is, to he sure, attiicting and heart-rending to me to think that so many of the 
Irish in America should be so degenerated as to be among the worst enemies of the 
people of color. Alas! alas! we have that fact placed beyond a doubt by the indis- 
putable testimony of Lord Morpeth. This is a foul blot that we would fain wipe off 
the escutcheon of expatriated Irishmen. 

Have you enough of the genuine Irishman left among you to ask what it is that we 
require you to do? It is this: 

First: We call upon you in the sacred name of humanity, never again to volunteer 
on behalf of the oppressor; nor even for any self-interest to vindicate the hideous 
crime of jiersonal slavery. 

Second: We ask you to assist in every way you can in i)romoting the education of 
the free men of color, and in discountenancing the foolish feeling of sellishness— of 
that criminal sellishness which makes the white man treat the man of color as a de- 
graded or inferior being. 

Third: We ask you to assist in obtaining for the free men of color the full benefit 
of all the rights and privileges of a free man in whatever State he may inhabit. 

FoiiriJi: We ask you to exert yourselves in endeavoring to procure for the man of 
color, in everj^ case, the benefit of a trial by jurj^, and especially where a man insist- 
ing that he is a free man, is claimed to be a slave. 

Fifth: We ask you to exert yourselves in every possible way to induce slaveowners 
to emancipate as many slaves as possible. The Quakers in America have several so- 
cieties for this purposes. Why should not the Irish imitate them in that virtue ? 

Sixth: We ask you to exert yourselves in all the. ways you possibly can to put an 
end to the internal slave-trade of the States. The breeding of slaves for sale is pro- 
bably the most immoral and debasing practice ever known in the world. It is a 
crime of the most hideous kind, and if there were no other crime committed by the 
Americans, this alone would place the advocates, supporters, and practicers of Amer- 
ican Slavery in the lowest grade of criminals. 

Seventh: "We ask you to use every exertion in your power to procure the abolition 
of Slavery in the District of Columbia. 

Eighth: We ask you to use your best exertions to compel the Congress to receive 
and read the petitions of the wretched negroes, and above all, the petitions of their 
white advocates. 

Ninth: We ask you never to cease your efforts until the crimS of which Lord 
Morpeth has accused the Irish in America, of "being the worst enemies of the men 
of color," shall be attoned for and blotted out and effaced forever. 

You will ask how you can do all these things? You have already answered that 
question yourselves; for you have said that public opinion is the law. of America. 
Contribute, then, each of you in his sphere, to make up that public opinion. Where 
you have the electoral franchise, give your vote to none but those who will assist you 
in so holy a struggle. 

Under a popular government, the man Avho has right, and reascni, and justice, and 
charity, and Christianity itself on his side, has great instruments of legislation and 
legal power. He has the elements about him of 'the greatest utility; and even if he 
should not succeed, he can have the heart-soothing consolation of having endeavored 
to do great and good actions. He can enjoy, eveir in defeat, the sweet comfort of 
having endeavored to promote benevolence and charity. 

It is no excuse to allege that the Congress is restricted from emanci])ating the slaves 
by one general law. Each particular slave State has that power Avitiiin its own pre- 
cincts; and there is every reason to be convinced that ]Maryland and Virginia would 
have followed the example of New York, and long ago abolished Slaverj-, but for the 
diabolical practice of "raising," as you call it, shives for the Southern market of pes- 
tilence and death. 

Irishmen, and the sons of Irishmen have, many of tiiem, risen to high dis- 
tinction and power in America. Why did not Irishmen and The sons of Irishmen 
write their names in the brightest pages of the chapter of liumanity and benevolence 
in American history? 

Irishmen! Our Chairman ventures to think, and we agree with him, tliat he has 
claims on the attention of Irishman in every quarter of the globe. 

The Scotch and French philosojihers have proved by many years of experiment 
that the Irishman stands first among the races of man in his physical and bodily 
powers. America and Europe l)ear testimony to the intellectual ca])acity of Irishmen. 
Lord Morpetli has demonstrated in the Britisli Parliament tlie superior morality of 
the humbler classes of Irish in all social and familj' relations. The religious fidelity 
of the Irish nation is blazoned in glorious and jjroverbial certainty and si)lcndor. 

Irishmen ! sous of Irishmen! descendants of the kiiul of heart and atiectionate in 
disposition, think, oh ! think only Avith pity and compassion on your colored fellow- 
creatures in America. Offer them the hand of kindly heli). Soothe their sorrows. 



8 LETTER OP DANIEL O'CONNELL. 

Scathe their oppressor. Join with your comitrjnncn at home in one cry of horror 
against the oi)])ressor ; in one crj^ of S3'mpatliy with the enslaved and oppressed, 

, " Till prone in tlio dust slavery shall he liurrd,-:- 
Its name and nature blotted from the world." 

We cannot close our observations upon the unseemly, as well us the silly attacks 
you make upon the advocates of abolition, without reminding you that yoii have 
borrowed this turn of thought from the persons who opposed Catholic Emancipation 
in Ireland, or who were the preteuded friends of the Catholics. 

Some of you must recollect that it Avas the custcnn of such persons to allege that but 
for the "violence" and "misconduct" of the agitators, and more particularly of 
our Chairman, the Protestants were about to emancipate the Catholics gradually. It 
was the constant theme of tlie newspaper press, and even of the speeches in the llousc 
of JParliament, that the violence and misconduct of agitators prevented Emancipation. 
It was the burden of many pamphlets, and especially of two, Avhich\\'ere both Avritteu 
under the title of "Faction LTnmasked," by Protestants of great ability. They 
asserted themselves to be friends of Emancii)ation in the abstract; but they alleged 
that it was impossible to grant Emancipation to persons Avhose leaders misconducted 
themselves as the agitators did. They gratified their hatred to the Catholics as you 
gratify your bad feeling toward the negroes, by abuse of tlie CaHiolic leaders as A'iru- 
lent as yours is against the Abolitionists. But thev deceived nobody. Neither do 
you deceive anj'body. Every human being perceives the futility and folly of your 
attacks upon the Abolitionists, and understands that those attacks are but the exhibi- 
tion of rancor and malignity against the tried friends of humanity. 

You saj that the Abolitionists are fanatics and bigots, and especially entertain a 
virulent hatred and unchristian «eal against Catholicity and the. Irish. We do not 
mean to deny, nor do we Avish to conceal that there are among the Abolitionists many 
wicked and cahunuiating enemies of Catholicitj' and the Irish, especially in that most 
intolerant class, the Wesleyan Methodists ; but llie best Ava}' to disarm their malice, is 
not b}' giA'ing up to ihrr/i- the side of humanity, Avliile }'ou, yourseh^es, take the side of 
Slavery. But, on the contrary, by taking a superior station of Christian virtue in the 
cause of bencA'olcnce and charity, and in zeal for the freedom of all mankind. 

We Avish w(! could burn into your souls the turpitude attached to tin; Irish in 
America })y Lord Moiitetli's charge. liecollect that it reflects dishonor not only upon 
you, but upon flu; land of your l)irth. There is Imt one Avay of ell'acing such disgrace, 
and tliat is by bex'oming tlie most kindly toward the colored pojudation, and the most 
energetic in Avorking out in detail, as well as in general prineiple, the amelioration of 
the state of the miserable bondsman. 

You tell us, indeed, that many clergymen, and especially the Catholic clergy, are 
rani,a'd on the side of the slaveluilders. We do not belitwe your accusation. 

The Catholic clergy may endure, but they assuredly do not encourage the shiA'c- 
owners. We have. Indeed, heard it said that some Catholic clergymen have slaves of 
their oavu ; but, it is added, and we are assured ])ositively, that no Irish Catholic 
elergyman is a slaveownei-. At all events, every Catholic knoAVS hoAV distinctly 
slaveliolding, and especially slave-trading, is condemned liy the Catholic Church. 
Tliat nu)st eminent man, his Holiness, the Present Pope, has, by Allocution piib- 
lished tliroughi)Ut the AV(U'ld, condemned all dealing and traffic in slaves. Nothing 
can be more distinct nor more ])OAverful than the ]N)i)e's dentmciation of that nu)st 
abomimible crime. Yet it subsists in a more alxnuinable form tliiiu his Holiness could 
jiossibly describe, in tlie traflic Avhicli still exists in the sale of slaves from one 
State in America to another. 

What, then, arc avc to think of you, Irish Catholics, who send us an elaborate vin- 
dication of Slaveiy Avithout the slightest censure of that hateful crime — a crime Avluch 
the Pope has so completely condemned, uanudv : the diabolical raising of slaA'cs for 
sale, and selling tliem \o other States. 

If you be Cat holies, you should devote your time and Aest e\erti(Uis to AVorking out 
tlie j)ious intentions#)f his Holiness. Yet you i^refer — oh, sorrow and shame! — to 
A oluuteer your vindicalion of cA'crything that belongs to the guilt of Slavery. 

If you be Christians at all, recollect that SlaA'ery is opposed to the first, the highest, 
and the greatest ]irineip]es of Christianity, Avhich teach us "to love the great and 
good God above all things AvhatsocA'cr ; and the next, "to love our felloAv-man as 
ourselves;" Avhich commands us "to do unto others as avc Avould be done by." 
These sacred i)rinciples are inconsistent Avith the horrors and crimes of Slavery, sacred 
^irinciples Avhich have already banished domestic bondage from civilized Euro])e, and 
which Avill also, in God's oavu good time, banish it fi'oin America, despite the adAo- 
cacy of such lauiy declaimers as yini arc. 

How bitterly lia^e avc been alliicted at perceiving In- the Ainerieau ncnvspajjcrs that 
recently, in the city which you inhabit, an opjiortuniiy Avas given to the Irish to 
exhiliit benevolence and humanity to a colored fellow-creature, and Avas giA'cn in A'ain ! 
We allude to the case of the girl Lavinia, Avho Avas a shiA'c in another State, and 
brouglit by her oAATier into that of Ohio. She by that means became entitled to her 



on AMERICAN SLAVERY. 9 

freedom, if she had but one friend to assert it for her. She did find friends — may the 
great God of heaven bless them ! Were they Irish ? Alas ! alas ! not one. You 
sneer at the sectaries.- Behold how they here conquer you in goodness and charity. 
The owner's name, it seems, was Scanlan ; mihappily a thorough Irish name. And 
he, it appears, has boasted that he took his revenge by the most fiendish cruelty, not 
upon Lavinia, or her protector, for they were not in his power, but on her imotfend- 
ing father, mother, and family. 

And this is the system which you. Irishmen, through many folio pages of wicked 
declamation, seek at least to palliate, if not to justify. 

Our cheeks burn, with shame to think that such a monster as Scanlan could trace 
his pedigree to Ireland. And yet you, Irishmen, stand by in the attitude rather of 
friends and supporters, than of impuguers of the monstrous cruelty. And you prefer 
to string together pages of cruel and heartless sophistry in defense of the som'ce of his 
crime, rather th^n take part against him. 

Perhaps it would offend your fastidiousness if such a man was compared to a pick- 
pocket or a felon. We respect your prejudices and call him no reproachful name. It 
is, indeed, unnecessary. 

We conclude by conjuring you, and all other Irishmen in America, in the name of 
your father-laud — in the name of humanity — in the name of the God of Mercy and 
Charity ; we conjure you, Irishmen and descendants of Ii'ishmen, to abandon for ever 
all defense of the hideous Negro Slavery system. Let it no more be said that your 
feelings are made so obtuse by the air of America that you pannot feel, as Catholics 
and Christians ought to feel, this truth — this plain truth, that one man cannot have 
any property in another man. There is not one of you who does not recognize that 
principle in his own person. Yet we perceive — and this agonizes us almost to mad- 
ness — that you, bcfasting an Irish descent, should, without the instigation of any 
pecuniary or interested motive, but out of the sheer and single love of wickedness and 
crime, come forward as the volunteer defenders of the most degrading species of 
human Slavery. Woe ! Woe ! Woe ! , 

There is one consolation still amid the pulsations of our hearts. There are, there 
must be, genuine Irishmen in America, men of sound heads and Irish hearts, who 
will assist us to wipe off the foul stain that Lord Morpeth's proven charge has inflicted 
on the Irish character — who will hold out the hand of fellowship, with a heart in that 
hand, to everv honest man of every caste and color — who will sustain the cause of 
humanity and honor, and sconi the paltry advocates of Slavery — who will show that 
the Irish heart is in America as benevolent and as replete with charitable emotions as 
in any other clime on the face of the earth. 

We conclude. The spirit of democratic liberty is defiled by the continuance of 
Negro Slavery in the United States. The United States themselves are degraded 
below the most uncivilized nations by the atrocious inconsistency of talking of lib- 
erty, and practicing tyranny in its worst shape. The Americans attempt to palliate 
their iniquity by the futile excuse of personal interest ; but the Irish, who have not 
even that futile excuse, and yet justify Slavery, are utterly indefensible. 

Once again, and for the last time, we call upon you to come out of the councils of 
the slaveholders, and at all events to free yourselves from participating in their guilt. 

Irishmen, I call upon you to join in crushing Slavery, and in giving liberty to 
every man of every caste, creed, or color. 
Signed by order. 

DANIEL O'CONNELL, 

Chairman of the Committee. 



IQ LETTEB OF HON. S. P. CHASE 

LETTER OF HON. S. P. CHASE, 

IK KEPLY TO 

DANIEL O'CONNELL. 



T M Rav Esq " Cincinnati, November 30tli, 1843. 

■ Secretary of the Loyal National Repeal AssociaUon-. 

CiR._We Have the honor of transmitting to your address an authenticated copy of 
certlhi resolutions which were unanimously adopted by a very large majority of the 
friends of Liberty, Ireland and Repeal, held in this city on the lyth of the present 



You will perceive that one of these resolutions imposes on us the duty of preparing 
a letter To Uur Association, expressing the sentiments of the people there assemb ed. 
We procee^l to the discharge of this duty, penetrated by mingled emotions of plea- 

""^etav?|"ltSSn in assuring you of the deep sympathy of the meeting 
which wrremesent with the Irish people in their noble effort tor the restoration of 
J^eh ri-hts ami of the profound admiration with which we all fegard your i nstrious 
leadei>.vho fin s time and occasion, in the midst of momentous responsibilities and 
deen anxieties to interpose his powerful influence and pour forth lus persuasive elo- 
oSi in behilf of the wretched victims of oppression in a distant land. We a e 
Smeitha truth obliges us to confess that in this country, boastfiil of free ms itu- 
Uto in the sixty-eighth year of our national existence, tAVO mil ions and a half of 
mman'be ngi endowe°d by their Creator with inalienable ri^it to iberty, are held as 
chS mSy by some two hundred and fifty thousand citi^ns o the Lnited btates. 
aSi sS^^ gvief do we acknowledge the existence of this foul and dishonora- 
ble blot or^^our national character; but our shame becomes indigna ion, and our grief 
is turned huohrror, wlien we sec American citizens, whether native or naturalized, 
vimlcatnUV(-ont nuance and extension of slavery in this country by elaborate 
Ii-^um?nt and with unblushing impudence claiming for this organized crime a place 

"%;^±'u;;rS!casii^^t'onc for stating to y- ^^- /lews held by us an^ by 
many of our feilow-citizens of the true constitutional position of our National Gov- 

'X^iinerSr^m (^uveSnt with the history of this country, doubts that at the 
nertod o • oui revol onary struggle an intense love of liberty and hatred of oppres- 
ffoi nos.esscd Uie heart of all IhS leading characters of the nation. 1 he patriots of 
tSchv ?em el to place the vindication of resistance to oppression upon any lower 
o • IV m.Aver n-ound than that, of the inherent and inalienable rights of man. They 
]n4 1 • iTbold y p c inved these truths to be self-evident -. -That all men arc created 
equal that they are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights; that 
nnmno- ihose are life, liberty, and the pursuit of liappmess. . 

Toxy^^S^A^^^^l-^on of these truths c.nifined to ih^s declaration. Asearly as 1 . <(> 
th^L^o-'m s of'he s ^eral coUmies assemliled at I'liHadelphia, b.,uud themselves and 

ei cSt tuont b ^r^o^n^^^ covenant, that they would "neither iniport nor pur- 
di. e ai y^^^^^^^^^^^^ =^'l^^'- 11^^ ^""-^^ "'■ I>^'«"»^1'^''; 5" that year, but woufd whoH^ 

asc<U fuctlu-slave-tra.r, and neither be concerned ui it themselves nor hire thci 
V is N or tl ei ■ commodities or manufac'tures to those who might be coiicerned 
in i " Ada the close, of the Kevolution, in an address issued m Aprd 1 -83, by 
in It Aiui ai ni*^ J^^ . aisserted as a matter of lust pride and ex- 

IJuuITE; h;:^ri^h;rn;;-ln'h 11- coi^iSt: just terminated, had been waged "were 

'1)[Kuill!n;:cumn;isan.l the private writings ol the most distinguished men of 
ll.?t ert I rn sh .•uuivocal cviilence that tl.e existence of negro slavery m Ame- 

• c as J. de pre 1 and its <.xti,uti<.n .•arnestly desired by all good men and pa- 
nt 'Hu'^ id l.m.'ver, whidi mure than l.alf a century of experience and the 

o hiiir 1 HVo T oi so UKUM- xvise and elo<,uenl philanthro,iisls have since shed upon 

rl b ee al den e,l t.. that age. The safety and expediency o universal emanr.- 
mtio ad ot bee tested by the splendid ^Vest Indian experiment. Immediate 

n Jcner 1 Ube ration was dreaded as 'fraught Avitlv evils t.. the master and tl.e slave. 
A wa e o curTd n desiring to put, an ind to slavery wherever abo ition Avas 

deineZrVei.S 

eitSlu wiuld iiave been universally execrated as an enemy ol Ins species. 



IN REPLY TO DANIEL O'CONNELL. U 

The reality and power of lliese seutimonts were signallj'- displayed in llic provisions 
of the ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of 
the river Ohio, promulgated in July, 1787. Tliis territory was ceded to the nation l)y 
the States of Virginia, New York and Connecticut, all then slaveholding States. No 
power had been granted in congress by articles of the confederation to legislate for 
the abolition of slaverj^ within the limits of the States. But in regard to this territory, 
Congress possessed the same power over the subject that Die Stlitcs themselves pos- 
sessed within their respective jurisdictions; and in the ordinance providing for its 
government the existence of slavery was proliibited absolutely and f(n-ever. There 
were slaves in this territory at the time of the adoption of the' ordinance, held under 
the laws of Virginia. Since that time it has been legally impossible to hold any hu- 
man being as a slave for a single moment within its limits. The grand object of the 
ordinance, set forth distinctly in the body of that document, "was to extend the fun- 
damental principles of civil and religious liberty," and "to fix and establish those 
principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments forever thereafter 
to be established in the territory." These imnciples were deemed incomi)atible with 
slavery, and therefore the existence of slavery was strictly inhibited. 

A few weeks after the i)assage of this ordinance, whicli was ado]>ted with but a sin- 
gle dissenting voice, the Constitution of the United States was jironudgated by the 
convention Avhich framed it. It was supposed that the ordinance had effectually pre- 
vented the extension of slavery. It was also supposed that the principles of liberty 
and equality, to which the people of all the States had so often and so solemnly 
pledged themselves, and Avhicli had already led to the abolition of slavery in several 
States by the voluntarj- action of the local legislatures, would <'on1iniie to influence the 
public mind, and to produce like results, until slavery should be abolished throtighout 
the land. 

The Convention, therefore, did notthiidv lit to confer any express ]iower on the Na- 
tional Congress to abolish slavery in the States by direct legislation. . Tliey recog- 
nized the fact that slavery existed in some of the States, in several constitutional ]n'o- 
visions; but thej^ were careful to exclude .all recognition of its rightfulness, and to 
vest in Congress no power to establish or continue it an5'Miiere. Slavery, therefore, 
under the Constitution, is strictly a creature of State legislation. No person, imder 
any act of Congress, can ho constitutionally reduced to slavery. No person, under 
any act of Congress, can be constitutionallj'^ held as a slave for a single moment any- 
where within the range of exclusive national jurisdiction. 

Some enlightened jurists in this country go even further, and maintain that the Na- 
tional Constitution, as it now stands, does of its own force absolutely abolish slavery 
tlirougllout all the States. They reason thus: The CVmstitution, as originally framed, 
did indeed recognize by implication, the existence of slavery under State legislation as 
a matter of fact and perhaps of legal right. But the Constitution was afterward 
amended in the mode prescribed by itself. Among the amendments thus incoipo- 
rated into it was one Avhich ])rovidcd that "no i)erson shall be deprived of his 
liberty without di:e process of Unv." Now every slave is deprived of lil)erty without 
any legal process. Slavery, therefore, is repugnant to the Constitution. This reason- 
ing, if we regard only the terms of the instrument, is certainly unanswerable. If we 
look at the circumstances of the country at the time, however, it does not seem likely 
that the amenilment was designed to have th(j clfect attributetl to it. 

Be this as it may, we apprehend that no intelligent and disinterested ]K'rson examin- 
ing the provisions of the Constitution and the amendments, and comptiring them -with 
the facts of history, can withhold his assent fnmi the conclusion that there has been 
no time since the organization of the existing Government of the United States when 
slavery could be established or continued by national legislation. 

You may ask, then, how conies it to i)ass that slaves are l)oiiglit ami sold in tin- 
markets and driven in chains tlirough the streets of the city of Wasliinglon, tlie very . 
seat of the national Government? How is it that" three new slave States liave been 
erected oat <jf the Territory of Louisiana, which was iiurcliased from France, and 
thereby became subject to exclusive national jmisdicti(mV llow is it that slavery still 
exists in Florida, which yet remains a Territorial Goveniment , and derives all its powers 
from acts of Congi-ess, and can pass no law not subject to abrogation, if disa]ipr()ved 
of by that bodyV How is it that ships freighted with luuuan cargoes traverse the 
seas continually muler the proteclion of the national flag ami under the sancticm of 
the national law? How is it that the National (Tovernmenl itself, instead of employ- 
ing all its mighty energies and exerting all its powerful influence in behalf of liberty 
and justice, has for many years directed its negotiations abroad and its legislative and 
administrative action at home chiefly to the advancement of tlie interests of slavehold- 
ers and the perjietuation of slavery? 

Truth, alasl compels us to acknowledge the justness of tin- charges implied in thope 
interrogations: and tlieblusli of shamemantles (ui our elieeks, and a tide of lionest in- 
dignation swells our hearts while we admit that tlie Constiution Avliich tlie fathers of 
the Republic ordained to establish justice has been ])erverled, by ji most disingenu- 



12 ' LETTEK OF HOIS. «. P. CHASE 

ousand false coustmctiou, to the sanction of hideous wrong, and the Government 
which they framed for the security of the blessing of liberty has been abased for the 
peroetuation of the curse of slavery. 

But it is not difficult to trace this perverted construction to its source. 

Most unhappily the framers of the Constitution, expecting the certain and not 
distant abolition of slavery by State legislation, determined that representation m the 
nooular branch of the National Legislature should be apportioned among the States, 
not in proportion to the number of free inhabitants in each, but in proportion to the 
number ot'free inhabitants and three fifths of the slaves. The effeet of this ai'range- 
ment has been that five slaves have always been counted as equal to three tree per- 
sons in the constituency of a representative in Congress. But slaves, of course, never 
vote Thev are treated as property. Their masters only vote. At the outset ot the 
Government therefore, when the number of Representatives was_ fixed at one for 
everv thirtv thousand inhabitants, a district in a slave State containing less than five 
hundred families, possessing one hundred slaves each, had the same right of represen- 
tation that a district in a free State containing five thousand families, averaging six 
members each, enjoyed. A slaveholder with ten slaves had then, and still has, a po- 
litical equivalent to that of seven citizens not thus privileged. ,,,,,. e 

We do not suppose that the efi"ect of this provision was understood at the tune ot 
the adoption of the Constitution. But it soon became apparent. The slaveholders, 
having succeeded in obtaining the privilege of having their so-called property repre- 
sentee! soon became sensible of its value. They began to appreciate the political 
advantages of the concentration of the share of Federal power belonging to their re- 
spective^'States in the hands of masters, instead of having it distributed equally among 
the male adults of the whole population. , . ^ ., 

When the representatives of the slaveholders took their seats m Congress, they 
foimd themselves united by a common paramovmt interest. The representatives of 
the non-slaveholders, on the contrary, having no such common bond of union, were 
divided among themselves on many questions. Profiting by these divisions, the 
slave State representation early acquired the ascendency m the national councils. To 
retain this ascendency, it became necessary to discourage all schemes of emancipation 
bv State authority. This explains the reason why only two States have passed acts 
of abolition since the organization of the present National Government, whereas, be- 
fore that period, six States (a district of one of which has since been erected mto a se- 
parate State ) had abolished Slavery within their limits, and Congress had pro ubited 
Fts eSstenceUhin the northwestern territory, out of which the four states ot Ohio, 
Indiana Michigan and Illinois have since been erected. „ , ,. . . , „. . 

But it was n(^ enough to repress the disposition in favor of abolition m the States. 
It was necessary to make the General Government itself the patron of the detestable 

'""The fi?S'step toward this end was to induce Congress to pass an act continuing in 
foree the Viws of Vir-inia and Maryland, within the district ceded by those States f^or 
he seat of the National Government. This act embraced all the provisions of the 
State slave code, and of course at once engrafted the system of Slavery upon the ^a- 
Sonal Legislature. It was a flagrant violation of the implied contract at the forma- 
t on of the Government, t,hat Slavery should never exist under the egisla ion of Con- 
IrcSs It\v^So a plain transgresiion of the letter and spirit of the Constitution, 
which not only did not confer on Congress any power to establish or continue Slavery 
b5 law, but expressly declared that no person should be deprived ot liberty without 

'^'Anr?.resi'Svrproof()f this growing ascendency of the slaveholdiiig interest, and 

. of the perversion of the National Administration to the purposes of the slaveholder, 

was exlfibited a few years afterward in the purehase of Louisiana tr.nu I ranee. I pon 

Uic acqiisition of that territory, the Congress, instead of emulating the example of 

t e C ngress of 1787, and the consecrating that vast region to impar lal liberty; 

nstc-^d of hastening to redeem the pledge which the nation had given to the world by 

the adoption of thc'ordinance tliat Slavery should never be extended beyond its exist- 

n^S ate limits-did not scruple to provide for the continuance ot Slavery therein by 

lis^it -e ei act.ncut in sliameless violation of good faith and const.tutiom.lobl.ga- 

imi Seve slave States have since been created out of this territory, and the rep- 

resenta ivti of slaves from these States, chosen by masters have taken their seats in 

Coniriss by the side of the representatives of non-slaveholders from the ree States. 

The precedeit of aexiuirini- territorj- for the purpose of extending the limits of 
Slav iv.uis thus established. It was not surprising, therefore, that it should be lol- 
lowcdupwhen occasion re<iuired by the purc'hase ..f Florida from Spam, and by a 
fresh o^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the Ccmstiti.tion by the continuance and extension of Slavery in that 
territorv bv leirishitivc iirovision. . . 

T Se suece^sivc- violations of the Constitution, resulting m a prodigious exteuMon 
of t le lim ts and in an c.iormous accession to the power of S avery, attracted little 
a ten ion from politicians, wlio consulted their interests m rivaling each other m 



IN REPLY TO DANIEL O'CONNELL. 13 

devotion to the slave power. A few philanthropists and statesmen may have moui-ncd 
over the progress of an evil which they dared not openly and manfully oppose. 

At lens;th,liowever, the public mind was excited by the claim of ^Missouri, which 
was part" of the district acquired from France, to be admitted into the Union as a 
slaveholding State. This claim was resisted. The advocates of the restriction and 
the friends of the extension of Slavery divided the country. The struggle was severe. 
In the result, however, victorv decliired itself on the side of the slaveholders, and 
Missouri was admitted as a slave State. Since the termination of this contest, until 
very recently, there has been no organized opposition to slavery. The political i)ar- 
ties of the country have submitted to the sway of the slave power, and the taint ot 
pro-slavery has fastened itself upon every deijartment of the National Administration. 
Thus we see that the original error of providing for the partial representation ot 
slaves, which amounts to the same thing as conferring peculiar political power on 
masters, has led to encroachment after encroachment, and aggression after aggres- 
sion, until the true construction of the Constitution has been subverted. It is now 
boldly claimed that the Constitution guarantees property in men, and that Slavery is 
a national institution. . ^ , 

We have seen our national Executive, in conformity with this ialse construction, 
pressing upon foreign Governments claims of indemnity for the loss of persons alleged 
to be slaves, who were constitutionally, as well as of natural right, free the moment 
they were afloat on the high seas in an American ship. We have seen the National 
Legislature employing the'sanctions of law for the protection and extension of Slavery, 
while it has insolently denied a hearing to the remonstrances of the friends of Liberty. 
We have seen— oh, shame ! our national Judiciary solemnly deciding that a slave- 
holder may, in a free State, seize any person claimed by him to be his fugitive slave, 
and drag him into a slave State, without process and without trial, subject only to 
legal responsibility should the person thus kidnapped ultimately succeed in establish- 
ing his right to freedom. 

These and similar outrages, perpetrated in the abused name ot the Constitution, 
have at length aroused the attention of the people. They inquire at length whether 
the Constitution of the country was in reality designed— not to establish justice and 
secure liberty— but to establish despotism and secure immunity to oppression ? They 
scrutinize the power of Congress to see if indeed there be among them an authority to 
create or continue the condilion ot Slavery V They investigate the records of history 
to ascertain what were the injunctions laid upon their posterity by the acts and the 
precepts of the Fathers of the country. ■ 

We who address you, and our fellow-citizens whom we represent, have been aston- 
ished by the results of these inquiries. We find that the construction of the Consti- 
tution which has been imposed upon the people of the country, is morally speaking a 
base forgerv. We find that all power to create or continue Slavery has been caretully 
withheld from the National Legislature. We find that our fathers have left on record 
their solenm censure of the iniquitous system, and their sacred pledge that it should 
not be perpetuated or extended. We find also and we feel in our bitter ex])erience 
that free labor is dishonored, and its wages rendered insecure throughout the whole 
land by a system which exacts labor without wages, and degrades the laborer to the 
level of the"bcast. AVe are taught also that our own rights and liberties are endan- 
gered by the spirit of despotism— endangered by slaveholding, which has so fearfully 
manifested itself in the denial of the right of petition and of trial by jury, and in the 
desperate attempts to suppress investigation by mob violence, by ecclesiastical servil- 
ism, by legislative enactments and by itarty ostracism. 

We have, therefore, " come out from among" the palr(ms, the advocates, the apol- 
0"-ists of Slavery. We have resolved to vote for no man, and to act with no party 
not fully committed and pledged against this enormous evil and wrong. AVe avow 
an eternal hostility against des]K)tism and oppression in every torm, whether mani- 
fested in crushing' the black man, or in deiiressing and impoverishing the white man. 
From the inmost recesses of our hearts we thank you and the Irish people tor your 
sympathy with us in our great struggle. You have our sym])athy in yours. ^ ou de- 
mand the repeal of a statute which makes Ireland the political vassal ot Knglaml. VVe 
demand the abro£'-ation of laws which make millions the chattel property ot tliousands. 
You demand the^'reneal of the Union statute, because it was carrieil by tiaud and has 
been pen)etuated by force. We demand the abrogation ot our national man-cliattel- 
izing legislation because it is repugnant alike to the C"onstitution ot our country and 
to the code of Heaven. You seek to accomplish your great oljject by peacelul and 
legitimate means. AVe, like you, appeal to the people, and put our trust in Him who 
holds the hearts of all men iii His hands. Your triumph, we believe, is Secure and 
near at luind ; ours may be deferred to a somewhat more distant date, but it will 

conic ' 

We are aware that the energetic and uncompromising hostility of the Liberator to 
every form of oppression has drawn upon him the bitter hate, and subjected him to 
the calumnious attacks of the partisans of Slavery in the country. At a public meet- 



14 LETTER OF HON. S. P. CHASE 

ing held in New Orleans some three j^ears since, he -was denounced as "a political 
renegade entitled to the execration of all sober, upright, and enlightened American 
citizens, and to be regarded with no feeling but abhorrence." About the same time 
he was stigmatized by a writer in the State of Mississippi as " that detestable agita- 
tor, Daniel O'Connell," and as "that unprincipled Irish incendiary." More recently 
the Irish Repeal Association of Baltimore denounced the speech delivered by the lib- 
erator on the 10th of Maj^ last as " a base calumny against the humanity and the 
purest sense of human obligation that are the characteristics of the Southern people." 
Even now, unless it has been removed since the summer of 1840, there hangs on the 
wall of a slave-dealer's office, in the District of Columbia, a tilthy caricature repre- 
senting Abolitionists and blacks together, among whom a conspicuous position is 
o-iven to Daniel O'Connell, as a tit subject for the obscene witticisms of scoundrel 
traffickers in human flesh. 

These things were, however, to be expected from the bigoted devotees of Slavery in 
the slave States ; but it required the evidences of our senses to convince us that the 
apologists for the "peculiar institution," who have assumed the leadership of the 
Irish Repeal Association in this city, woiild venture upon any open denunciation of 
the illustrious champion of Irish liberty, or dare to draw an invidious distinction be- 
tween the Irish people and their liberator. But the resolution of the meeting held in 
July last, Avhich asserted that the declarations of ]\Ir. O'Connell were " slanderous of 
the American people," and that it was the duty of the meeting " to repel the calumny 
and hurl back the charge with sconi ;" the letter prepared and addressed in behalf of 
the Cincinnati Societj" to the National Association, and the recent conduct of the As- 
sociation here in refusing to the scathing and overwhelming reply of your committee 
the common courtesy of reception, on the pretense that the constitution of the Society 
prohibited all reference to questions of a sectarian or political character, (a pretense 
demonstrated to be frivolous b}' previoiis action on the subject of abolition, and by 
the passage of a resolution on the same evening "to repel the coarse and unjust lan- 
guage of the great Irish leader,") — these things have satisfied us that these men, 
relying on the cruel and wicked prejudice against persons of color, which, though 
constantly abating, still too generally characterizes the American people, are ready to 
proceed as far in their defamation of the Liberator, as tliey have heretofore gone in 
their scurrillous abuse of the friends of Freedom at home. 

But can these men imagine that true-hearted Irishmen will long endure their shame- 
ful conduct toward a man enthroned in every honest Irish heart as the truest and the 
noblest friend of his country ? Can they imagine that the sons of Ireland who have 
sought in tliis AVestern wcn'ld a refuge frcnn oppression for themselves, will long con- 
sent to be used as the instrunients for oppressing oUiersV If they do, we think they 
deceive themselves. 

Not many weeks ago, at a national convention of the Friends of Ijiberty, assembled 
at Buffalo, in the State of New York, an Irish laborer, distinguished by his Avarm 
heart and clear imderstanding, declared that the first vt>te he ever gave in his life was 
for Catholic Emanciitation in Ireland, and the next Avas lV)r liberty in America ; and 
he never meant to givi! a different vote so long as God siiould spare his life. There 
are other Irishmen like him, and the number, Ave trust, Avill rapidly increase. 

"What do these men mean by asserting that "the people of Ohio have never had any 
connection Avith Slavery in any fonnV" They knoAV tiiat the votes of representatives 
of 01ii(^ sustain Slavery at the seat of the National Government and in tlie Territory 
of Florida. They know that if tlie unctmstitutional hiAVs of the General GoA-ernment 
Avliich sancti(m Slavery Avere rei)ealed, and its inthiencc; and patronage arrayed on the 
side of Liberty, Slavery could hardly long exist. They know, too, that if the people 
of Oiiio Avould elect to" Congress th(! 'right kind of men* this object could almost cer- 
tainly be accomplislied. 

These men say that fifteen millions of Avhites oAve it to Freedom and the Avorld to 
maintain and jierpetuate republican institutions — by Avhidi term they somcAvhat face- 
tiously designate American ShvA'cry. NoAV, of these fifteen millions, at least thirteen 
millions are positively injured by the existence of the system. Of the rest of the 
Avhites the greater nmnber yrol)ably think tliemselves interested in sustaining it. 
though even amtrng shiveholders, there are not a few avIio detest the system and desire 
its oVerthroAV. The hiii^iiiness of two and a half millions of enshiA'cd and a half mil- 
lion of free colored pe<)i)hi is beneath tlie consideration of these cliampions of " repub- 
lican institulions" and revilers of O'Connell. 

These men cliarii'e the, anti-slavery men with lieing unlVienilly to the cause of repeal 
and bitter enemies of Homan Catholics. 

Both cliarges are false. Among the anti-slavery men are very many anient friends 
of repeal. Some of them, too, are members of the Catholic C!hurch. 

Differences of religiims creed or of national origin are not sufi'ered to ilivide our 
ranks. We ])refer to c(mtinue Avith each otlier, Protestants and Catholics, native Itorn 
Avith foreign born, in honest zeal for the liberty of all and the rights of all. 



IN BEPLY TO DANIEL O"C0NNELI,. 15 

They charge us also with enmity to our country and to our National Constitution 
We may justly retort the charge. They— they are the enemies of the coimtry who 
stain Its honor, degrade its character, and waste its resources in fostering Slavery our 
greatest curse. They— they— shame upon them !— are the enemies of our National 
Constitution, who have by violence and false constrflction blotted out all its "-uaran- 
tees of personal freedom and individual right, and have held it up to the world as a 
compact for the perpetuation of crime and the extension of despotism. 

But It is useless to expose the inconsistent sophisms or foolish calumny of these 
men. Jt has already been done in a manner they will never forget, by the Liberator 

Again, in behalf of the oppressed of the land, in behalf of all who are strugglinc; to 
restore them their rights, in behalf of the friends of freedom everywhere, we thank 
you for your sympathy. 

Our hearts throb with anxiety as we await the issue of the pending trials thou"-h 
we cannot doubt what the result may be. Would that they might be abandonell 
Ire*l" d' '"^^ "^^'^'^^^^ ""^^^* ^°^^'^" ^lerself with glory by a sublime act of justice to 

We rejoice to learn that the friends of freedom in England are disposed to make 
common cause with the Repealers. It is an auspicious omen. May it be fulfilled ' 
And may God send the people of Ireland and their noble champion a safe deliver- 
ance. 
We remain, with the highest regard, 

Your friends and the friends of Liberty, 

S. P. CHASE, 
JOHN TOBIN, 
JOHN B. KRAUTH, 
P. McCABE, 
^ . , G- BAILEY, Jr., 

Committee of the friends of Liberty, Ireland, and Repeal, in Cincinnati 



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